Friday, July 24, 2009

Beaumont Wrap-up (and leaving for Dallas)

So the girls and I had a great time on the trip, and Chase did too, on his alternate trip. It's really good to be home though. Happy-running-through-sprinklers-Jane, of this picture from my Grandmother's back yard, is no more. Now she is pukey-feverish-summer flu Jane. Poor, poor kid. We have not had much sleep in the last two nights.

Here is some of the amazing canning bounty from my dad and Shawn's pantry. In happier times, Jane could put away a jar of those pears all by herself. Those are figs and pears, with a few blackberry preserves leftover from the spring I think. And mayhaw on top, mmm...

And there are even MORE figs on the trees. Apparently if you keep picking them, they keep growing! Who knew?

And this is a picture to demonstrate one aspect of my strange family dynamic. That's my mom's house, as viewed from my dad's backyard. Yep. My aunt lives next door, on my dad's other side. It's cozy.

Sometime soon I'll post a real wrap up of the trip- including the soon-to-be-legendary in our family CREEPIEST HOTEL EVER. The hotel we stayed at in Houston on the way home was hands down the worst place I've ever stayed, and remember, I have camped in haunted cacti ridden state parks while pregnant. Just saying. This weekend I'll get a chance to try out a fancy name brand hotel, though not La Quinta, alas. We're going to Dallas, for my one graduate school class meeting. It's for my preservation class, and I'm actually really looking forward to it. This has been my favorite class so far, even though the summer schedule makes it hard to keep up with the workload.

And I got the internship I wanted- I'll be working at the Episcopal Seminary next to UT in the fall. A small academic/special library, and I get to bounce around and work with everyone there- acquisitions, collection development, serials, ILL, and (eek) cataloging. The library shares space with the Episcopal Archives, and I am looking forward to the experience. However, even though I'm currently studying library environmental systems, and I have previously worked in the "too cold for hobos" PCL, I spaced for my interview and wore a sleeveless shirt. I thought I was going to freeze to death. A good library is approximately the same temperature as a pastry kitchen. I will definitely need to invest in more sweaters (what a hardship- I know).